Joy Behar and Michelle Collins explain their comments about Miss Colorado's nurse monologue at the Miss America pageant that have raised a controversy.
- Sep 17, 2015
AceShowbiz - "The View" co-hosts Joy Behar and Michelle Collins have addressed the controversy that was caused by their nurse remarks on Monday, September 14. In the episode airing earlier this week, the two commented on Miss Colorado Kelley Johnson's monologue at the Miss America pageant during which she shared her experience as a nurse.
Thus when they returned on Wednesday, they took to the show to explain their comments. "I, for all of us, want to say we love nurses. Nurses, if you're watching, we adore you, we respect you," Collins said. "You're the most compassionate people. I was not talking about nurses, we were talking about the talent competition, and it got misconstrued."
Behar, meanwhile, admitted that she was "just not paying attention," and thought Johnson might have just been in "costume." She added, "I was just not paying attention. I was looking at a Miss America tape, and there's a woman wearing an outfit with a stethoscope, and I'm thinking is she in a costume? I didn't know she was a nurse."
"I'm used to seeing them in gowns and bathing suits," Behar tried to justify. "It's not like I was trying to be funny. It was just stupid and inattentive on my part. I didn't know what the hell I was talking about. My son-in-law is a physician assistant, one of my nieces is a nurse, so I mean I know they use stethoscopes, I just was not paying attention."
Co-host and moderator Whoopi Goldberg added, "You have to listen. You have to pay attention, you have to look at folks and say, 'Is that what they said or did she just make a joke?' That's the thing. You just gotta listen."
On Monday, Collins said of Johnson's monologue, "She came out in a nurse's uniform and basically read her emails out loud and shockingly did not win." Behar chimed in, "Why does she have a doctor's stethoscope on?"
Unhappy nurses later created the hashtag #NursesUnite and demanded an apology from "The View" co-hosts. Following the clarification by Behar and Collins, Pamela F. Cipriano, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, president of the American Nurses Association, said in a statement, "Nurses have a professional, ethical obligation to their patients, and are committed to transforming the health care system to achieve better health outcomes at reduced cost."
She added, "That's why it was disturbing when Joy Behar, co-host of 'The View', used her national platform and influence to mock Miss America contestant Kelley Johnson for wearing a 'doctor's stethoscope' while performing a dramatic monologue about her experience as a registered nurse during the pageant's talent competition, as if Johnson were wearing a costume."
Cipriano said the organization was "pleased" that Behar had apologized and saw this as a "great opportunity for those in the media to highlight the important, lifesaving role of nurses and show them the respect they deserve."
Miss Colorado Johnson finished third at the Sunday pageant show. Miss Georgia Betty Cantrell was named Miss America 2016, while Miss Mississippi Hannah Roberts was the first runner-up.
